


The Road Home

by lone_lamplight



Category: The Wizard Of Oz (1939), The Wizard of Oz & Related Fandoms
Genre: Adventure, Coming of Age, Family Feels, Fantasy, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:55:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27944903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lone_lamplight/pseuds/lone_lamplight
Summary: A collection of short fics that follow Dorothy's journey through Oz to find her way home -- except these stories focus on all the possible untold moments that happen in between the famous events we know. And through them, Dorothy explores what "home" truly means to her.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	The Road Home

“Why do we have to kill her?”

Dorothy Gale sat hunched over her knees on a mossy log as she and her traveling companions took a break on their journey. She nibbled away at a finger sandwich that one of the Ozians had packed for them. She had told them it had been her favorite when she stayed in the city, but now she could barely taste it.

“For someone who’s got a brain, I think that’s a silly question to ask.” Scarecrow lifted one of the sandwiches in his gloved hand and turned it over and over at the level of his painted eyes. 

“It’s because I have a brain that I’m askin’,” Dorothy said. 

“Well, what do you think?”

Dorothy’s head sunk deeper over her knees. “Because The Great Oz told us to.” 

“There you go.”

“She’s a horrid person, Dorothy,” Tinman said. He stood a stone’s toss away from the others, leaning this way and that to squirt oil into his joints. He insisted he start doing it himself, instead of relying on Dorothy or Scarecrow. “You’ve seen what she’s capable of. She terrorizes anyone who dares come across her path.” Tinman’s body tipped forward as he tried to reach the oilcan to his ankle joints, and then, with a quick flailing of his silver arms, he clanked back up to a full standing position. “She’s heartless.”

“Well, she’s got a heart, I reckon,” Scarecrow began, waving the little sandwich in the air. “Technically speakin’.”

“You know what I mean.”

Dorothy glanced over at the most recent member of their group. Lion lay sprawled on the edge of their picnic area, his large, shaggy head propped on his massive front paws. His eyes popped when he realized her gaze remained locked on him.

“What are you looking at me for?” he asked. “I never wanted to leave Oz in the first place.”

“So… you don’t think we should kill her?”

“Hmph. I never said that.” Lion flipped his mane dramatically. “The sooner she’s gone, the sooner I won’t have to go around thinking some flying money is going to carry me away.”

“Or carry Toto away,” Tinman added. He reached out and scratched under the little dog’s chin, who had taken a liking to lingering around him, knowing his metal fingers were a prime scratching post. Or at least, that’s what Dorothy had concluded.

“I guess….” Dorothy swallowed the rest of her tasteless sandwich. “But why? Why make us kill her? Why can’t he do it himself? Why hasn’t he done it already? If The Great Oz can’t kill her, how do we stand a chance?” 

Her questions were met with silence and long stares. She stomped her foot and stood up from her log.

“If we can’t even answer those questions, why should we even do this?!” With a huff, she spun around from their picnic area and marched off toward the creek just down the path. 

The sunshine, which seemed perpetual around the vicinity of Oz, bounced off the creek’s surface and glimmered in her eyes. Its clear, flowing waters made her fingers itch to throw off those dazzling ruby slippers and sink her toes down into the cold and into the soft mud bottom. But instead, she squatted by the shoreline and twirled her hand through the water. 

The sound of someone stumbling through the grass and down the embankment caused her to glance up, but she already knew who it was.

“Sorry I yelled back there,” she said.

“It’s all right.” Scarecrow plopped down next to her on the bank, careful not to get his straw feet wet. “You gotta know by now that Oz isn’t Kansas. Right?”

“Right.”

“And if you want to get home, we have to do this.”

“But why can’t there be a better way?” Dorothy said, clenching her fists. “I’ve never killed anyone.”

“Yeah, you have.” 

“On purpose.”

“Oh.” Scarecrow sighed and dropped his head in one of his hands. “Well, like it or not, it's our only option. For now. The Great Oz is the only one who can grant our wishes. Who can send you home. So what he wants is what we gotta do.”

“It’s just not fair.”

“It’s not about fairness, I reckon.” One of Scarecrow’s hands covered hers. “He doesn’t have to be fair. We got no other choice.”

Dorothy’s hand turned over and clenched Scarecrow’s.

“Is it worth it?” she asked. “To do all this just to get what we want?”

“I… don’t know,” Scarecrow replied softly. 

“Me neither,” Dorothy whispered. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”


End file.
